Mirror Focus
by Guaua
Summary: Twelve years since their last adventure, Toby foolishly reverses the roles through a wish better left unsaid. But the rules in the Labyrinth have changed, and Toby finds himself in a far more dangerous world than his sister could ever have dreamed of. Thrust into an all-out war for the throne of the Goblin King, Toby will have to save his sister before she becomes someone's pawn.
1. Chapter One: A Rude Awakening

**Author's Note:** Greetings old and new readers. As I stated before I removed my old copy of _Mirror Focus_ from this site, I have redone much of the plot and I hope that you enjoy it. The story will take us through the well known trope of "What if Toby wished Sarah away?" but with many twists and turns along that story that I hope will be new to you. Please take the time to tell me what you think! I am willing to hear (constructive) criticism and value everyone's opinion on what I have to write.

I am posting a day earlier than I said I would, as tomorrow I have some major auditions to get into a music program I want to take for school. In order so that I can continue to make certain that the plot is working properly, the chapters are working together smoothly, and the writing is as its best, I probably be posting one chapter every two to three weeks until I either have an excess of chapters or have finished the story in its entirety.

The story uses the movies as canon but not the manga.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Labyrinth, nor any of the characters who were written in it. I own this story, my own musings,

* * *

_"Who are you?" Evelyn asked, watching the tall man cautiously. She had not seen him in the ballroom where her father's wedding guests had all gathered, but there were no other entrances to the balcony and the palace guards would have seen someone climbing the wall._

_The man seemed to contemplate her presence before bowing before the youth respectfully. He then stood tall again, and Evelyn noticed that though he stood stoic, his sapphire blue eyes were laughing at her._

_"My name is Kallaster, Your Highness... and I suggest you forget I was here."_

_Nightingale, Thomas, Labyrinth_. 7. Print

* * *

**Chapter One: A Rude Awakening**

Waking up in a room comprised of stone walls, a murky aroma, and a constant drip from the ceiling above that was creating a tiny puddle in the centre of the floor, was not exactly what Sarah Williams would deem 'normal'.

She had never been a "party girl". She rarely went out at night, and even then rarely went out late. Her personality didn't go with that lifestyle... Not while she was at home, and certainly not while she was in university. This meant that it was extremely rare to wake up at someone else's home without remembering how she got there.

In the moments it took her to take in her surroundings, Sarah no longer felt groggy and half-asleep; the newly given surge of adrenaline made her quite awake and she was soon in a silent panic.

The brunette sat up quickly, wincing as many of her muscles complained from what she could only guess was sleeping on what appeared to be a straw mattress. Why had she been asleep? Where was she? What the hell was going on!?

"Breathe, Sarah," she chastised herself, standing up and starting to pace in order to try to calm herself and get her circulation flowing. "You're probably dreaming. This isn't the first time you've dreamed up something this…" Sarah paused to take in her surroundings, feeling her chest tighten, "...vivid."

The straw mattress that she was currently sitting on was pushed up against one of four walls that were made of what looked to be marbled sandstone in differing shades of black and white. There was no door, nor were there any windows. Actually, there was no direct light source of any kind and yet she could see perfectly well in all directions. Sarah felt a lump form in the back of her throat as her mind, unconvinced that this was only a dream, raced to logically explain how she could possibly have arrived in such a perplexing location.

The last time she had been anywhere nearly as disorienting was-no. It couldn't be that.

Sarah racked at her brain, trying figure out what she last remembered happening. Apparently whatever it was that had knocked her out in the first place had also left her memories in a jumble. She _did_ remember the dumb movie she had gone to with-

Ah. That's was right. Karen had tricked her into going to a blind date with a former schoolmate. Was that it? Had the stupid jerk somehow drugged her? If so, did that explain where she was now?

No. No never-mind, that wasn't what had happened. Sarah rolled her eyes at the panic her overactive imagination had just attempted to put her through. That couldn't possibly have been it. For one thing, they hadn't even eaten anything together. For another, she highly doubted that _Bobby Zigby_ would have had the skill to place her in as complicated a location as she had currently found herself in. She and Bobby just gone to some half-assed romance movie and the stupid twit couldn't keep his eyes on the screen for for more than five damn minutes. Or his hands in his lap. She had left before the movie was over and driven home to vent at Karen.

Sarah cringed. Now she remembered. She had had another row with _Karen_. But really, could anyone blame her? Christmas vacation was supposed to have been a time for the family to be together, especially since Sarah's classes kept her away for most of the rest of the year. And yet, within the first two weeks Karen was sending her off on an errand that ended up with her practically forced into going out on a date. Sarah felt her face grow hot at the memory, despite the predicament she found herself in currently. She had_ told_ Karen that she didn't want any of that happening this time. There would be time for her to meddle with her affairs in the summer. But no, her step‑mother seemed to have a preconceived idea that her ovaries were going to shrivel up before she turned thirty, and chose to act upon it every chance she could get.

Sarah knew she would regret everything that her and Karen had said later, but enough had been enough. Karen's closing argument, that Sarah was no better than her mother, had left her with no other option that to turn her back on her stepmother state that she was leaving for school the next morning. She had gone upstairs into the room she had been staying in and had started to pack immediately. There was nothing that could be done to save what was left of the trip. Daddy wasn't there to intervene, and there was no way that little Toby -

Toby.

_Toby_ had come into the bedroom after the fight in order to see if she was okay. He had instead found her stuffing her clothing into her suitcase. It was going to mean breaking her promise to take him to see "The Nutcracker Prince" later that week. Sarah knew that he had every right to be as hurt as he was.

Oh. That's right. She hadn't acted understanding at the time.

* * *

_"You can't just leave!"_

_ "Toby, I love you, but your mother and I are __**never**__ going to get along. Coming back here for this long was a __**mistake**__."_

_ "But what about the play!?"_

_ "Karen can take you."_

_ "I always do things with mom. I want to do something with __**you**__!"_

_ "Toby, stop! You're not a baby anymore."_

_"Then stop treating me like one!"_

_"I am! By expecting you to understand that you aren't always going to get your way!"_

_"Why do I have to lose you too!?"_

_"You're not losing me! I'm just going to back to school. Like I've been doing for years! __**Toby! Put my suitcase down! Come back here**__!"_

_"No! What if you don't come back!? I want you to stay! __**I wish you would stay!**__"_

_"Life isn't a fairytale, Toby. Life happens. I'm not saying that anything will happen, because it won't. But I'm not going to stay around here 'just in case'. Now, I'm going to tell you this __**one more time**__; put the suitcase down or take it back into my bedroom so I can finish packing."_

_ "Fine, then, __**go**__! __**Get out**__! I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!"_

* * *

"Shit." Sarah mouthed, suddenly unable to breathe. Any frustration she had had towards Toby, Karen, or even her father left her as realization hit her like a bucket of ice water.

She stood frozen in place, her mind racing as she put two and two together to make _thirteen_. Sarah knew where she was. Not only that, she also knew why she was here. That knowledge alone was enough to leave her speechless and more frightened than she had probably been in over twelve years.

It didn't seem possible, but the facts were speaking for themselves quite clearly. Truth be told, how else could someone have confined her to a room that didn't appear to have an entrance?

Sarah had somehow managed to find herself back in the Goblin Kingdom of the Underground... only this time, she was in the centre of the Labyrinth, at the mercy of the Goblin King himself…_ Jareth_. Sarah blanched at the idea that somewhere in his castle, that pampered poof was probably doing a song and dance number of glee for managing to have her in his captivity.

The more the implications hit her, the harder Sarah found it to think. She didn't realize that she had walked back toward the mattress until she was sagging against it, what little strength she had left seeping from her body.

She had convinced herself years ago that she had dreamed the Labyrinth up. It must have been a dream, how else could she explain such coincidences as her stuffed fox? Yet her senses told her that this was no dream. And although she had denied it for some time, she had secretly doubted very much that the last time had been a dream as well.

Now she knew that Toby, whom she had tried so hard to rescue twelve years ago, had managed to make the same mistake she once had... But how? How had he even known the right words!? She could never destroy the book, there were far too many memories attached... but she had hidden it as carefully as possible. The correct words _weren't even in it._ They had just come to her as, presumably, they must have come to him. She gritted her teeth, frowning as the lump in her throat grew worse.

Last time had been hard enough... She had won Toby back with seconds to spare. This time would different. This time, she was the wished away, not the wisher. This time, she had to rely on Toby to save her, and was at the hands of the Goblin King until... no, _if_ Toby managed to rescue her.

She knew Toby was going to try. No, that was never going to be one of her fears. Toby had been upset because she was _leaving_, not because he wanted her to l_eave_. He would rise to the challenge in an instant if it meant saving her... but her heart clenched at that very thought. Of her baby brother trying to brave the dangers of the Labyrinth. Sarah had nearly died more times than she could count. To imagine Toby encountering the same, or perhaps different hardships...

"Toby, you idiot."


	2. Chapter Two: Don't Blink

A/N: And as promised, it's time for chapter two! Thank you to all who read and enjoyed the first chapter of my tale. I hope that many of you continue to enjoy it. A huge thank you to those of you who reviewed or decided to follow this story, your interest helps me with my inspiration with the future chapters I am posting. The next chapter will probably be up in a few weeks. As I said, I have much to add and fix in each chapter. Many have undergone multiple revisions to add plot here, foreshadowing there, better characterization in another spot... etc.

This next chapter is a bit not fun. I do try to add humor to my stories (As anyone who has read my Sarah/Jareth story can probably see), but this chapter is important for very non-funny reasons. To tide you all over, I ask you to imagine Jareth bald.

Reviews are always appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_She wiped her forehead with the cloth, sagging against a wall out of complete exhaustion. Cara nestled her head into Evelyn's hand, meowing sympathetically. _

_"Did I not warn you that this would happen?" A voice spoke from beside her. Evelyn barely acknowledged him, looking instead down at the small kitten who was also paying Kallaster no heed. She rubbed behind Cara's ears affectionately and sighed wearily, shaking her head._

_"Goblin King, I have already told you many times, I have no intention of wishing my stepbrother to you. Despite how my stepmother has chosen to treat me, I mean to raise Farris to be a good king. I will not let his mother corrupt him as she has my father." She looked at him, her pale green eyes showing the experience and maturity that the frock she was wearing hid from view to the rest of the world._

_"He would not be corrupted, were he to live with me in my castle." Kallaster said with a teasing grin. He knelt down next to her and reached a hand out to draw some of the hair from the princess' face._

_Evelyn frowned and hit his hand away. "He would be turned into a goblin, Your Majesty. That may be considered a minor setback where you come from but in my kingdom he would be considered an exile."_

Nightingale, Thomas,_ Labyrinth. 35. Print_

* * *

**Chapter Two: Don't Blink**

Some time before Sarah would be waking up and trying to make sense of things, her thirteen year old brother, Toby, would be experiencing a similar dilemma. One second, his older sister had been standing in his bedroom, sternly ordering him to put the stupid suitcase which he had stolen from her back, the next she was gone. He hadn't even _blinked... _that couldn't be right.

"Sarah?" he asked uncertainly, dropping the suitcase into the centre of the floor. Toby looked around pensively, unable to understand what had just happened. He frowned. There was no way he could _possibly _believe that he had literally just seen his sister dematerialize in front of him. His eyes _must_ have been playing tricks on him.

"Ha ha, very funny." The boy stated as he rolled his eyes. "You can come out now..."

There was the sound of a loud **crash **coming from his closet. He jumped into action and pushed his clothes out of the way, only to find that there was nobody there. Now the sound of scuffling feet was behind him, but when he whirled around, again, there was nothing.

"Sarah!" Toby was getting impatient. "Quit hiding. You're being mean and this doesn't solve anything!"

_She isn't here._

A voice, almost a whisper, masculine and strong seemed to echo through the room, or at least Toby's head. He dismissed it at his own thoughts and continued to look for his sister.

He thought he saw movement in the corner of his eye, but again there was nothing there when he turned and looked.

He was becoming less convinced that whatever was going on was his sister's doing.

"Wh-what's going on..? Sarah? Sarah, where are you!?"

_I said she's not here._

Now he was becoming frantic, glancing everywhere. He swore he saw eyes peering at him from under the bed, through the crack in the dresser, under the pile of laundry he had stuffed into a corner, and amongst the shadows of many other locations. No. That was his rampant imagination again. It had to be... right?

He thought of going to get his mom, asking her for help. No, he had heard Sarah and his mom fighting. That usually led to the same thing. His mom would have gone off driving to let off some steam, leaving him alone to deal with his sister and her to look out for him. They were so used to this routine that she didn't even ask anymore.,. Then again, he didn't remember a time that she had.

A loud cough that came from under the bed pulled him from his thoughts, but when he bent down and looked underneath all he found was that Lancelot had fallen off of his bed again. He picked the stuffed teddy bear up and dusted him off before placing it next to his pillow, grimacing.

"Sarah, this isn't a game anymore! Come out _now_!" Toby shouted.

"You really aren't very good at listening, are you? I am not going to repeat myself a third time." The same voice that he had heard in his mind was now behind him. Toby whirled around in surprise, almost tripping over his sister's suitcase in the process.

Suddenly he was surrounded.

Small... creatures, for that's all he could call them at the moment, were _everywhere_. A small greenish... _thing _was on his bed. Another, much larger one that was somewhat orange and fat was sitting on top of her dresser. There were at least ten of them, all different shapes, sizes, and colours, but none of them drew Toby's attention as much as _he _did.

In front of Toby stood a man. Or at least he _looked_ like a man, but there was something... _off_... about him.

He was tall, with long dark brown hair which though it was supposed to be pulled back into a ponytail, had several unkempt strands that stuck out from it and lay flat against his face. His eyes, which he_ swore_ had a different sized pupil than normal, were a deep green hue. The amused smile he was giving Toby didn't seem to fit with the rest of his features.

It was his choice in clothing that really stuck out in Toby's mind. He was wearing a long cloak that had a multitude of iridescent dark blue and silver hues glimmering through it. This was overtop of a deep brown leather jacket and silvery tunic. The jacket matched the long boots that he was wearing. The tunic was a lighter shade of the dark gray fabric he was wearing as some kind of tights.

To be honest, the man looked like like he had been pulled out of one of Sarah's stupid fantasy stories she was always writing. Toby could almost imagine the kind of gucky language she would have used to describe him. A cunning grin. A foreboding aura. Richly sewn fabrics of the kind only a King would-

In that instance, Toby remembered a book. One he had found while Sarah was away, hidden in her room. A book of a princess, a baby, goblins, wishes, and the king that granted them.

He looked up at him, quivering slightly as he suddenly felt tired and overwhelmed. "Give her back." he asked, feeling small compared to the tall male.

The Goblin King, for that was who he was, grinned wider. The surrounding _goblins _laughed.

"Ah, so you have decided to listen after all, have you? Aren't you going to be polite and ask my name and give me yours, little Toby?" His final question was posed with an_ incredibly _condescending tone.

"I don't care what your name is, Goblin King. I only care about where you've taken my sister."

The king laughed. The other goblins joined him as if on cue.

"Well, in that case, your 'Sarah' has been taken to my kingdom in the Underground." he stated, speaking to Toby as though Toby were much younger than he actually was. While he spoke, he wandered around the room, plucking Lancelot off of his bed and examining it with amusement, paying no heed to Toby. "You've no need to thank me. It was, after all, you who wished me to take her."

He had, hadn't he? Oh, no. That hadn't been what he wanted. Toby looked up at the Goblin King fearfully.

"What... What are you planning on doing with her?" he asked with concern.

"Well turn her into another goblin, of course! You did read that book, didn't you? It's not very often these days that little boys and girls find the right words without it... and to think, it had been written in an attempt to _prevent _these things!" The Goblin King laughed again, this time harder. "The irony is quite enjoyable, don't you agree?" The question did not appear to be asked to Toby, but to the smaller goblins, who instantly broke out into hysterics.

"No!" Toby fumed. "It's not funny! Nothing about this is funny!" His voice turned desperate. "I want my sister back, please! You know I didn't mean what I said."

The Goblin King wagged his finger and tsked, not taking his attention away from the teddy.

"Words have meaning, Toby. Whether you meant it or not bears no relevance. It was you, not I, who wished your poor defenseless sister to me."

One of the goblins booed at Toby, others mockingly gasping or imitated their king by wagging their short stubby fingers at him with feigned disappointment.

"I told you I didn't mean it!" Toby whined, looking from goblin to goblin with regret over his face as he tried to ignore the wave of guilt that was passing through him. "Please give her back, I want Sarah back!"

The Goblin King's grin dropped suddenly and he glared at Toby venomously.

"_Then you shouldn't have said it!"_

Toby retreated back a step. This time he _did_ trip over Sarah's suitcase, landing on the floor with a soft thump. The king loomed over him, glowering.

"You humans are all alike." He sneered, "Throwing words around as though they were useless! Meaningless! Powerless! You would do well to remember that this has _never_ been the case!"

"Well even if I did mean it, I've changed my mind! Give her back!" Toby shouted.

"You think it's that easy?" The Goblin King laughed wickedly. "You can't just _tell _me to give her back and think that I will!?"

"Well apparently it was that easy to tell you to take her away in the first place!" Toby snapped back. He pulled himself back onto his feet and returned the Goblin King's glares with one of his own.

"No, it was that easy for _you_ to give her to me." he responded coolly. Whatever else Toby was about to say in retaliation got stuck in his throat as the guilt hit him again. The Goblin King seemed to take notice of this, for he grinned again, his words dripping with an accusing tone. "I would have had no power to take your sister without the permission that _you __**gave **__to me_."

Toby was getting desperate. "Well there must be some way for me to get her back!"

"There is! There is!" Shouted several of the small goblins, some sounding gleeful and excited, others with a hint of warning. "There is a way!"

The Goblin King seemed to pause, looking at Toby as though he were sizing him up. His attention drifted back to the bear which he was still holding, staring at it thoughtfully.

"My subjects are right, of course. There is always a way. You can enter my kingdom, find your way to the centre of my Labyrinth, to my castle, and there you must defeat it. But I do not think that you would find the reward of saving your sister worth the challenge or the risk of rescuing her... Even if it _was you who put her there in the first place."_

Toby paused.

"...What sort of risks?"

"It's quite simple, really. You may have as long as you need to get to the centre. I am, after all, a very generous king... However, should you give up or be defeated, unless of course you _die_..." He paused, allowing the word to sink in. Toby shuddered. "Yes, if you survive but are unable to rescue your dearest sister, you too will be turned into a goblin, forgotten about by those you love. Even Sarah, though she will remember that she was wished away and was unwanted by you, won't ever remember who you are, even if you try your very hardest to remind her... so don't even think for a _second that losing means that you still get to be together."_ The Goblin Kings final words were like ice. But something about the his offer seemed off. It took Toby a few moments to figure out what it was.

"I don't remember that rule being in the book." he stated, confusion obvious in his voice.

"The _book_," the Goblin King paused, his face grimacing with distaste, "also stated you would only have thirteen hours in which to solve The Labyrinth... Would you prefer that instead?"

Toby didn't respond. In his mind, neither was a preferable option.

"Of course..." The Goblin King's voice went soft again, turning the bear upside down, "...you could always chose to forget yourself. Should you choose to give up now, I can make it so that you never even remember what you did... Your sister would still remember, would probably hate you for it for the rest of her life, but you wouldn't even remember that you still had a sister... Perhaps..." he looked at Toby for the first time since he spoke of his offer, grinning. "Yes, perhaps we could alter everyone's memories so that she died when your father did."

Toby, though he would never admit it to anyone, had started to feel tempted to take the Goblin King's offer up. It would be easier, he had told himself, and if he failed then Sarah and he _both_ would have had to live on as goblins... That was before the Goblin King's last words. Those words slammed into him like a brick wall and left him breathless.

"What did you just say..?" he asked, his voice near a whisper.

The Goblin King chuckled. "I said, perhaps we could change you, your mother, everyone's memories so that your dear Sarah was with _daddy_ in that car last summer."

"How... How did you know that that's what happened?"

"I may have looked into your dreams once or twice..." The Goblin King admitted with a smugly innocent tone, circling Toby thoughtfully. "What did you think I was doing when I picked up your little toy? Finding myself a new plaything..?" He wagged Lancelot into Toby's face and grinned impishly. "I prefer to get to know my solicitants before I give them the opportunity to forget their guilt, their pain... Would it not be easier to believe your sister dead than to know _yourself_ as the reason she is no longer with you? With her family? Her friends?"

"NO!" Toby pulled himself away from the Goblin King, anger swelling up. "I'm not going to lose her too! You can't make me! _I accept the challenge!"_

The Goblin King stopped circling and grinned widely at Toby.

"Excellent. Well, then, shall we begin?"

Toby glared up at him.

"No. If I have all the time that I want, then I have time to grab a few things from here first. You can just wait here and be patient."

The Goblin King's smile faded slightly while the goblins failed to hide several giggles into their hands...

"You can't be serious." He said, with a falsely jovial tone.

"I'm perfectly serious." Toby retaliated. "You can stand there and wait while I get ready."

"I _really _have no time for such nonsense." he remarked coldly. "If you must get ready, then by all means... _get ready._" His face turned into a sneer again. "But I am a king. I have no time to wait for _children_ to get into their '_adventure clothes'._" The Goblin King sighed and appeared to pull out a small shard of glass out of nowhere with his free hand. Before Toby could remark on the trick, the shard of glass had weaved itself into a small, elaborate hand mirror and passed to him. "Once you are ready to enter, simply state, 'I wish I were at the Goblin King's entrance to the Labyrinth', and the mirror shall take you there. Don't take too long though, or your poor sister may start to think that you have already given up on her."

There was a flash of light and smoke before Toby could say anything in response. Once his eyes could see again and the smoke had settled, Toby not only realized that the Goblin King had stolen Lancelot but also that once again, he had found himself very much alone.

* * *

A/N: Who wants to guess what Toby is going to pack?


End file.
